


Unbreaking Loyalty

by artylinds



Category: Mianite - Fandom
Genre: Exhaustion, Fluff, Getting Together, Gift Giving, Ianite - Freeform, Lack of Sleep, Light Angst, M/M, Mianite in 2020??, Mutual Pining, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Trauma, its all about that tenderness, karl there for point 2 seconds, resolving arguments, syndisparklez, theyve been through Some Shit, very light lol
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-02
Updated: 2020-06-02
Packaged: 2021-03-03 19:27:37
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,420
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24510802
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/artylinds/pseuds/artylinds
Summary: Tom wants to change Gods, Jordan speaks without thinking. And they're both exhausted while it happens.They argue, they forgive and they might just reveal their feelings
Relationships: Tom Cassell/Jordan Maron
Comments: 9
Kudos: 70





	Unbreaking Loyalty

**Author's Note:**

> My first ever fanfiction and it's in a six year old fandom which is very funny to me.
> 
> I want to be clear- I ship the characters of Captain Jordan Spraklez and Tom Syndicate not them irl! They play characters which I desperately love but they also are deserving of privacy and respect.
> 
> Hope the people who find this enjoy it!

Tom is exhausted. And frankly, who could blame him. Between trying to convince his friends he truly is a follower of Ianite and dealing with the growing issue of the darkness he’s shoved sleeping off to the wayside. He aches- and is nearing the end of his fuse if the way he just told Karl to shove off is any indication- but he needs more experience to power his enchanting table so he avoids his bed a little longer. Stepping into the omnipresent silence of the End soothes the sharp headaches he’s been dealing with for hours. He refuses to acknowledge how heavy his sword feels when he unsheathes the blade or the way his body struggles to keep him from shivering in the bitter cold of the void.

He knows his stubborn persistence is really the only thing keeping him going. That, and the way he always finds another thing that needs doing. He’s killed barely a dozen when he hears someone alight on the pathway behind him. Tom really tries to bite down the snarl that automatically crosses his features. He’s had a difficult enough day as is. He knows he’s being a little extreme but he doesn't particularly care. Despite that, he gathers what little patience he has left.

“I was wondering why half the endermen stopped appearing over at my spawner,” The captain’s voice greets Tom’s ears. Under normal circumstances, Tom would be thrilled to hear that voice and spend some time with Jordan. It just so happens this moment is not one such occasion.

“Give me ten minutes and I’ll be out of here and you can go back to murdering however much you’d like mate,” he replies to the endermen. He hadn’t even noticed that spawn numbers were lower than normal. He kicks himself for not checking to see if Jordan was already here.

“Why shouldn’t I just kick you out?” Tom knows from his lilting voice he’s joking, and he takes a long breath and tries to sound jovial when he replies.

“Because we both follow the same God Jordan! Come on- help a fellow Ianitee out.”

He hears the Captain snort quietly behind him, “Still trying to convince us of that blatant lie are you?”

Tom freezes midswing, sword suspended in the air. He feels his last strand of self-restraint snap and suddenly he’s drowning in bitter anger and betrayal. The snarl he was desperate to keep from his face reappears and he whirls on his heel to finally face Jordan.

Maybe if he wasn’t so fed up with everything going on, Tom might have noticed Jordan’s own dark circles laying under his eyes. But he didn’t- and he probably wouldn’t have cared much anyway. Or rather he would’ve convinced himself he didn’t care.

Because he did. He cared a rather lot.

“Why are you so convinced that I could never renounce Dianite?” Tom spits with white knuckles wrapped around the hilt of his sword. Jordon rolls his eyes and Tom’s emotions burn hotter. He can’t help but think his anger probably isn’t helping his case. He resents himself for that. He also resents Dianite for encouraging it.

“Because Tom,” Jordan says in a tone like he’s got all the answers figured out, “In all the time I’ve known you, your loyalty to Dianite always comes first.”

Tom’s struck into silence. He couldn’t even believe those words just left Jordan’s mouth. He was loyal to his friends first and foremost. He had thought he proved that countless times through countless dimensions. And to say he was always loyal to Dianite? He had killed the original Dianite- the first one- the one from their homeworld- whatever. Tom had plunged his own blade into the God who taught him what faith was and watched him die for the sake of his friends. He couldn’t even begin to understand where Jordan was coming from.

“I can’t believe-” the words escaped him. His chest burned and it wasn’t just from his exhaustion, he physically hurt.

Part of him distantly wonders if this is what heartbreak feels like.

Jordan speaks up, “Look Tom, I know you think-”

Tom lets his fury take over the pain of Jordan’s betrayal. It’s familiar and easier to deal with than the possibility of him doing something dumb like crying in front of Jordan. He interrupts before Jordan can dig any more daggers into his heart. He speaks without even considering his own words.

“How do you fucking know what I think Jordan. I’d bet you don’t even give a shit about me, let alone how I feel.”

The seething bitterness in Tom’s voice causes Jordan’s mouth to click shut. For the first time, Jordan pauses to take in the other man’s appearance. Tom’s eyes are ablaze with muddled emotions but beyond that Jordon realises he’s totally spent. He looks ragged and stretched to his limits. In his own tired delirium, he hadn’t noticed the danger in Tom exhaustion.

“Wait, Tom, of course I care,” he says, far gentler than he was previously speaking. He’s suddenly struck with how thoughtless he just was to his oldest friend. He might not be entirely certain of what

Tom wants from Ianite and he might not be entirely convinced of his loyalty to her, but he seriously did care about the man who shines bright enough to occasionally steal his breath away.

Tom’s snarl morphs into a grimace and Jordan watches as he sheathes his sword that in Jordan’s hazy mind, he hadn’t even really registered. The clatter of Tom’s yellow shulker box echoes in the end and Jordan finds himself confused when the other man starts rummaging around in the toolbox.

Jordan’s desperate to fix this and tires to articulate his evasive thoughts, “Tom, look-”

A viciously cold, “Don’t,” cuts him off once again. “You’ve already said plenty Sparklez.”

This entire situation is spinning out of Jordan’s control faster than he can wrap his mind around. If he was properly rested he could have avoided this, because when he’s properly paying attention Jordan knows how to read Tom better than anyone else.

He fumbles to catch the small bundle Tom throws at him, his brain feels like its lagging behind and Jordan desperately tries to get it running at full capacity. To try and understand what landmine he had triggered to cause such an explosion.

“Take it,” Jordan notes the way Tom voice hitches, “maybe it’ll help you figure out what I care about.”

Jordan doesn’t even glance at the gift in his hands and instead takes a few steps closer to try and prevent Tom from taking off without an explanation. Instead, Jordan heart twists painfully when it only causes Tom to stumble backwards away from him.

“Don’t,” Tom grits out again.

He’s gone with a quick zip of a firework and suddenly Jordan’s only company are the endermen. He can’t bear to look at Toms retreating form, his heart hurts enough as is. Jordan blinks a few times to both clear his vision and the cobwebs from his mind.

Tom’s own eyes are burning as he soars away- and it’s not just from exhaustion or the biting wind in the End.

In all their years as friends- physical fights notwithstanding- they never fought. A fair share of arguments and fake confrontations but never anything so raw and high strung as whatever just occurred.

Jordan studies the little package Tom had launched at him. Whatever it is, is wrapped carefully in a swatch of fabric, presumably for its protection. Seeing this Jordan takes his time unravelling the cloth and eventually reveals a delicate necklace. He is taken aback for a moment because this wasn’t what he was expecting. Tom is constantly keeping him on his toes, and he had clearly handmade this stunning piece of jewellery. Jordan is having a hard time coming to terms with the brasher man taking such care to forge something so intricate.

The pendant is attached to a braided leather cord and is made of two spiralling gold ribbons connected at the top and bottom with a pale purple crystal suspended between the bands. Jordan doesn’t immediately recognise the crystal but after a minute of inspection he’s struck with the realization, it’s a shard of an end crystal.

Jordan swears. End crystals are known to disintegrate when they explode and either Tom was very lucky to come across the shard- or he took a long time looking for one.

Jordan swears again when he notices the gold bands are painstakingly etched with tiny enchanting runes. One ribbon had tiny runes for protection inscribed upon it, while the other runes take a longer time for him to decipher.

He swears a third time when he realises Tom combined two runes into a new one.

_Unbreaking Loyalty._

Jordan can barely breathe and distinctly knows he didn’t just mess up. He might have seriously ruined a chance at something with Tom. An apology wouldn’t cut it. Not when he held countless hours of careful work in the palm of his hand- something that, even exhausted, Jordan could clearly see was a declaration. He had his work cut out for him.

Jordan rises before the sun the next morning. He tries to convince himself it's because he needs an early start to put his plan into action. It’s not very effective when the visions haunting his dreams still linger in his memory. The new weight pressing against his collarbone is his only uncertain comfort in the bitter predawn air.

Tom is up only because after passing out in his bed for a handful of hours he couldn’t stand to be static anymore. There were too many things that needed to be done, how could he possibly let himself rest when he could be up and moving and being productive.

It also didn’t help that the only thing he could think about during his few hours of rest was Jordan’s pained expression right before Tom flew away. That coupled with plenty of time to think about it, he’s concluded that he’d been far too harsh. Jordan’s comment had hurt sure, but Tom declaring Jordan didn’t give a shit about him was so uncalled for, and entirely unfounded that he wants nothing more than to crawl over to Jordan’s tower and desperately apologize.

He can’t bring himself to. Not when he had handed over, what at this point was practically his heart, to the other man. Tom’s fingers tap an erratic rhythm as he stands by his furnaces waiting for his glass to smelt. He quells the buzzing in his tired limbs that scream at him to get moving.

He’ll give it one day before he goes over to beg for his best friend’s forgiveness. He’d tell him to forget the whole thing ever happened. Tom wonders if he could convincingly blame it on his delirium. It’s what he’s good at anyways- lying.

Jordan thanks every God possible for his luck. He sacrificed a night’s sleep to finish his work but he counts his blessings he’d been able to finish the project so quickly. He runs his fingers through the grass on the top of his arch, unbothered by the night’s dew seeping into his pants. The sky’s turning red at the first rays of the sun’s light and distant memories of sailing as captain remind him it means there’s a high chance of a storm moving in.

The hard part comes next, which is actually talking to Tom. Despite his tired body, his head is far clearer than it has been for some time. He watches the mechanism he built for Tom’s lighthouse register the growing light and turn off.

 _“Fine- your light, my house,”_ he hears Tom’s voice say. His chest flairs with overwhelming fondness. He does a long and slow exhale and tries to find his courage to go over to Tom’s. It really shouldn’t be so difficult. Not when he’s wearing proof of Tom’s affections. All of his doubts are silenced by the sight of Tom launching into the air with a course set for Jordan’s island. Jordan smiles gently, remembering Tom’s never been one to sit still or let fights simmer for long. It makes things far easier for him he supposes.

What is new is Tom’s visible hesitance when he lands atop his arch. He’s normally hiding his doubts behind loud bravado, but Jordan guesses gifting someone a necklace that has your emotions transcribed on its surface might be cause for some nerves. He was beginning to discover that himself. Jordan also notes his rumpled state and even more prominent bags. He probably doesn’t look much different himself.

“Care to join me,” Jordan asks when Tom’s words seem to fail him. The question seems to ease some of the tension carried in Tom’s shoulders and he relaxes, if only minutely.

“I owe you an explanation,” Tom starts with a low tone as he moves to join Jordan on the grass, “About me joining Ianite, and about-”

Tom’s voice seems to fail him, Jordan can fill in the blank. “You don’t owe me anything Tom. I’m the one who owes you an apology for not trusting you.”

Tom shakes his head and Jordan watches the sea breeze ruffle his hair, “I know you trust me. I’m the one who’s sorry for overreacting but I still want you to believe me when I say I’m serious about following Ianite.”

“I took the time to actually consider the possibility and Tom, I realised you’d make a pretty damn good Ianitee,” Jordan says and the look of surprise that crosses Tom’s face is both very funny and very heartbreaking.

“You mean that?”

Jordan hates the disbelief and self-doubt tucked away in his words.

“Of course,” Jordan locks eyes with Tom as he continues, “Mischievous but a heart of gold when it counts? You’re quite literally the definition of balanced.”

Tom considers his words and grins widely, “I’d even balance you out, Mr. Constant Morality.”

Jordan huffs a laugh, “We’d be an unbeatable pair.”

“You bet we would mate!” Tom exclaims with his unparalleled enthusiasm, eyes glowing bright despite his lack of sleep.

Jordan considers him before continuing, “And it doesn’t have to be now, but whenever you’re ready to, I’d be willing to hear why.”

Tom dulls a bit and his eyes find the necklace sitting clearly around Jordan’s neck. He seems to find an answer there and squares his shoulders. The two of them take a break to watch the sun continue to climb in the sky before Tom breaks the peaceful silence.

“I’ve never had a God be fond of me like this version of Ianite has been,” Tom sees Jordan’s brows furrow before he soldiers on through an explanation he finally feels ready to give. “I’ve always been a tool for Dianite- a means to an end. The first one, he made me who I am, and back then my faith was unshakable in him. That is until he left me with no choice but to kill him.”

Tom stops to sigh.

“It was hard,” he admits, “the hardest thing I’d ever done. My faith in him had given him power, and he used that power to try and destroy everything I loved. I know I made the right choice and yet still felt so guilty. I spiralled pretty hard.”

Tom hadn’t noticed he started fidgeting until Jordan’s hand coming to lay on his forearm stills him. He doesn’t like dwelling on that part of the past for long so he skips all the heavy details for Jordan’s sake.

“I felt hope when I met that second version of Dianite. I had a shot at a second chance. But it was gone just as fast as it came when I realised I was his second choice. That I couldn’t ever compare to Mot.”

His mind is whirling, he lets the words pour from his lips before his fear can stop them, “I came to peace with that. And when I got a third chance and this Dianite-”

Tom’s voice breaks, and he scrunches his nose, unsure how to continue.

“And he was nothing like you needed him to be,” Jordan gently finishes for him.

Tom silently thanks the other man for saying it for him, and nods. Now Tom has to try and explain the part he’s not totally certain of himself.

“This younger version of Ianite,” Tom slowly says, “I think I have a chance to be better with her, and I think she understands me more then any version of Dianite has. And you Jordan, you understand me more than anyone else.”

The man in question takes his hand and tangles their fingers together.

“Unbreaking Loyalty,” he says with a smile that makes Tom’s heart flutter.

“It was as close as I could get to love,” Tom replies with a quiet laugh.

Jordan gives his hand a squeeze and Tom watches as he pulls a small wooden box from one of the pockets in his jacket. He offers it to Tom and he reluctantly releases their entwined hands to take it.

Tom is too curious to bother stopping to wonder what it could be and simply opens it before he can doubt what’s happening. Tom honestly hadn’t been expecting a ring. It’s a silver band spiralled once, and in the gap where the ends twist apart sits a black pearl. Tom lets his jaw drop.

“How in the world did you make this,” Tom exclaims his voice pitching upwards.

Jordan chuckles, “I think I was in a state of delirium for most of it, so I really couldn’t tell you.”

Tom blinks owlishly at the other man before practically shouting, “you did this all yesterday!?”

“And part of today I think?”

“You crazy sonovabitch,” Tom says, he’s not that surprised- it was probably Jordan’s first and only attempt, unlike the medallion which was Tom’s fifth attempt. Tom slips on the ring knowing Jordan’s always had a knack for creating things.

“Oh thank Gods it fits,” he hears Jordan mutter.

Tom snickers but doesn’t bother replying because he’s studying the tiny engravings on either wing of the band, just like the ones he etched onto Jordan’s pendant.

He recognises the rune he Frankenstein’d together to make Unbreaking Loyalty but the runes on the other side of the ring look like only partial words.

It clicks. “Binding,” he mutters turning to Jordan. At least the hours he spent pouring over enchanting books paid off some way.

“I promise it’s not actually bound to you,” he smiles.

If Tom could find the words to say anything he would. He settles instead for leaning into Jordan and kissing him like he’s been so desperate to. Jordan seems happy enough to return it. Tom can’t help but think one good thing came out of the high-stress exhaustion of the past few days. The pressure of Jordan’s lips- even the little things, like his smell- it all felt like coming home. He feels gooey and lightheaded when he pulls away from Jordan’s warmth and judging from Jordans own mushy grin he’s in a similar state.

“One thing,” Tom adds, “does this mean its cool for me to join team Ianite?”

Jordan breaks into laughter and it makes Tom’s smile get a little wilder.

“Welcome to the team,” Jordan says sealing the words with another kiss.

An hour later they’ve yet to move from their perch and are sharing a makeshift breakfast of cookies and apples- the only things either of them had in their pockets.

“I know it is barely even morning but I think I need to sleep,” Tom punctuates with a large yawn. The constant roar in his joints telling him to keep moving is dulled to barely a whisper. He thinks he might actually be able to rest peacefully now.

“Your welcome to share my bed with me,” Jordan says rubbing his own heavy eyes.

“In your tiny bed?”

Jordan pouts, “Anything larger is hard to centre under my stairs,” he defends.

Tom rolls his eyes with a smile. “Your welcome to come over and sleep with me.”

Jordan raises his eyebrows at the undead man.

“Oi get your mind out of the gutter!”

Karl wanders into Tom’s house well past noon and rolls his eyes when he sees the pair of them, still fully dressed and barely under the covers, tangled together in Tom’s bed.

“About fucking time lads,” he mutters as he goes to rummage through Tom’s chests.

**Author's Note:**

> Leave your thoughts in the comments or let me know you enjoyed with kudos!


End file.
